Bach, J S: Orchestral Suite No. 3 in D major, BWV1068

Following the Brandenbrug Concertos, another Bach treasury from the Astrée repertoire: a milestone in the history of Jordi Savall and Le Concert des Nations.

These Four Orchestral Suites are an essential addition to the recently released Brandenburg Concertos.

SACD remastering enables us to fully enjoy the hearty, colourful and cheerful performance by Le Concert des Nations and Jordi Savall.

As usual, the digipak is lavishly illustrated and documented, with a 180pp booklet in six languages.

Produced by EMI Classics in partnership with the prestigious National Gallery in London, The National Gallery Collection is a budget-price catalogue series bringing together the very best in fine art and classical music.

The collection features a selection of classical masterworks in celebrated recordings from the EMI Classics catalogue, brought together with great artworks from The National Gallery’s permanent collection.

Called “Ouvertüren” in Germany, because they began with a large-scale overture à la française, Bach’s 'Suites for orchestra' offer a unique synthesis of the French and the Italian styles. The Leipzig Cantor did not content himself with a mere set of amiable dances for his Collegium Musicum: he revived the genre in his own manner, accenting the contrasts, refining the orchestration, and introducing a hitherto unknown contrapuntal element. Two centuries later these joyous orchestral works represent an indispensable treasure of the Baroque.

Bach’s suites and concertos have long been part of concert repertoires. It is however interesting to mentally replace their first executions in the context of the time, so different from what we see on present day stages. Apart from at the courts, whatever their size, there were no permanent orchestras in Bach’s time and age. Café Zimmermann has brilliantly recreated the spirit of these orchestras, allowing each musician (chosen among the best on the European baroque scene) to express himself. Penultimate opus in this outstanding series, this is the first time we hear Café Zimmermann in such a large formation. This in no way harms the characteristic energy of the ensemble and we discover a Bach more alive than ever.